Kota Beach Resort, Bantayan Island

We’re on our 11th post now! Woohoo! Someone pleeaaasee stop us, we’re on a hot streak blogging roll! Oh yeah!

Inflated bravado aside, it hasn’t really been that easy coming up with a meaningful post every week. I had thought that blogging was as easy as typing away my thoughts with such ease like melted butter gliding on a frying pan. Now I’ve realized that it takes time, three cups of coffee, and endless hours of mindless browsing over the internet before a spanking new blog post spreads its wings and take its maiden flight into the big bad cyber jungle.

Well, er, so… on to real topic of this blog!

Bantayan Island Relaxation.

Ahh, now there’s a much deserved break of 3 days and 2 nights for both Yannie and me. For this treat, we were joined by our good ‘ol friends Gary, Irish, and Naids.

Yannie: We set out at 1pm last Saturday under the scorching heat of the city. When we arrived at the North Bus Terminal we decided to take the van-for-hire in lieu of the usual big yellow Ceres bus. We thought that this alternative mode of transportation would be much faster with fewer stops along the way and would be more comfortable, being air-conditioned and all that, plus the driver assured us that we could catch the 3:30pm ferry if we took his ride. Right we were on the first count, but dead wrong on it being comfortable at all. Inside the van we were jam-packed tight as candies in a donkey piñata ready to burst at the first sign of a whistling fart. Everyone of us at the back were producing buckets of sweat I was surprised the tiny van didn’t fill up and drown us all on our own sweat. (eww, why did I even write that? That’s so gross..) Only Gary and Irish had it easy as they occupied the front seats of the van.

Charlie: Mercifully, the ride ended after 3 grueling hours. Along the way I noticed that the roads in the town of Bogo were quite nice for a long distance bike ride and I made a mental note of it for future bike escapades. Anyway, we arrived at Hagnaya Wharf in San Remegio at exactly 4:21pm with just 9 minutes to spare to catch the Super Shuttle Ferry to Bantayan Island. But we were too late. The ferryboat had a malfunction with its ramp and had to cancel its trip. So we ended up waiting for another hour and then boarded the Islandshipping ferryboat which left port at about 5:45pm.

The boat ride took about an hour and a half, along the way too we experienced a picturesque sunset at sea.

Night had completely fallen when we arrived at the port of Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island. At the port, we had to feign disinterest, pretended to walk all the way to Kota Beach which was about 2km away, and when that didn’t work, haggled hard with the tricycle driver to cut down his “exorbitant” fare to a measly 15 pesos for each of us. Haha! talk about budget kings. When we arrived at Kota Beach Resort we settled in the farthest room away from the beach, but we had no complaints on that because it was 100% free! courtesy of Yannie’s great family connections 🙂

Time check, around 7pm.

When we finally sat down at a local restaurant, we ate..er scratch that..we DEVOURED our dinner of crispy fried chickens. Well maybe Gary, Irish, Naids, and Yannie might object to what I just wrote and claim that they ate only a little, but I admit I did eat my dinner with such gusto as could only be accomplished by a famished man.

After our dinner we bunkered down for the night, dead tired as we were yet still eagerly anticipating the fun we would have for the next day.

2nd day: Sunday

Yannie:  One quirky fact about Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island is that it has so many churches packed into its little town. There’s the Roman Catholic Church right smack in the middle of the town, then the Aglipay Church right in front of it across the street as if looking for a showdown. Then there’s the Jehova’s Witness’ Kingdom Hall, and the Seventh Day Adventists somewhere along the corner, and then there are the animists which you can find worshiping at the sandy white beaches and sacrificing their skin for the sun-god all day. So with all these faiths around, whenever we asked someone for info on the Sunday Mass schedule we’d always get a different response every time. We did manage to nail down the exact schedule for the Mass after much confusion albeit, to 6 in the morning and 4:30 in the afternoon.

We had planned to attend the early morning Mass but we overslept. Our 3 cellphone alarm clocks were swatted away like flies every time they rang. We did eventually woke up sometime between 7 and 8 in the morning. After a ‘healthy’ breakfast of canned tuna and instant noodles we took to the beach and swam to our heart’s content!

Charlie: After our morning swim we decided to hunt around town for a delectable treat of halo-halo, the best medicine for the hot summer sun. Unfortunately, Gary and Irish couldn’t join us on our halo-halo hunt because Gary was having a slight fever and had to take a mandatory rest as ordered by Dr. Irish,hehe

Our super halo-halo hunt ended at Cuo-Cuo Bar Hotel & Restaurant, where we were served with this deliciously special halo-halo.

When we had our fill of the halo-halo, we headed straight back to the beach.

After we had lunch Yannie, Naids, and I took a break from the summer sun by taking an afternoon nap. Meanwhile Irish and Gary, who was feeling a little bit better, decided to take their turn at halo-halo hunting themselves. By 4pm all of were gathered inside the church for Sunday Mass.

With nothing else to do after the Mass, we went back to the beach again for some fun sunset pictorials.

Yannie: Before it became completely dark in the evening, we decided to stroll on the beach since the waves have long rested. Occasionally stopping to snap a shot, we walked along the stretch of the  shoreline and passed by a number of resorts.  I wondered, could this island be so small that everywhere is a walking distance in a leisurely pace? Not that I consider of adding that on my to-do-list, but it should appeal Charlie, more than anyone else, and his biker’s impulse. He might as well grab a bike and round the island for a tireless and fun ride. Now, that’s more likeable for me. 😀

Speaking of which, you can actually rent a bicycle at a fair price of 150 pesos ($3)  for a much privilege ride-all-you-want a day. Just ask any locals or your helpful resort receptionists, and they could easily point you to someone. Now, Don’t complain if you are given with an old and rusty bike, what do you expect? Plus these people don’t think you for a real and pro biker!haha

Nah, I’m kidding! Of course they give only what they can offer best.

3rd day: Monday

Charlie: The next day at dawn I woke up at 5am in the morning hoping to catch the sunrise with my camera. Sadly, it was drizzling when I went outside. Frustrated by the rain, I just went back to sleep. The sky was clear when all of us had fully awaken.

Yannie: Monday! The inevitable last day of our stay. Everybody moved non-hastily as to savour each moment, saying our silent goodbyes to the little paradise and grudged on the mundane days of work ahead of us. Oh why do good things have to come to an end? Too dramatic, eh? But no, we didn’t have to mourn about it. ‘Coz that could only mean another vacation trip to plan! Hopefully, next time we’ll stir up and rekindle our passion for adventure and hopefully go on a wild and a thrilling trek next week!

‘Til next time!

Charlie & Yannie

For those of you who want more info about Kota beach and ferryboatschedule/rates, just drop us a comment and we’ll gladly help.
And hey! Wanna see the evil looking red-eyed bird that haunted us all night outside our room? Check it out on our facebook page!